Not My Sky
by Kiri Kaitou Clover
Summary: Keith left. But not for the reason he gave everyone. That was not his Sky. [Part 1 of VLD Flames AU]


**So, ever since Season 3, I've had this idea running around in my head - What are the implications of Flame users Team Voltron? How would each of the team fall into each Flame category with their personality? I wrote a tumblr post about it:  
** **rainixdra . tumblr post/163829841067/voltron-ld-characters-with-khr-flames**

 **Then Season 4 came and I wrote a fic about it. So here is the results of one part of my ideas. Also, Keith baby I love you but KILLING YOURSELF IS OUT OF THE QUESTION.**

* * *

Keith may have said that he was leaving because Shiro returned, because Shiro was the rightful pilot of the Black Lion, but in all honesty, it was for a different reason altogether. Despite his initial joy to see Shiro again, his instincts kept screaming at him that something was very wrong. The rest of the team couldn't see or feel it, but Keith? He could. His bond with Shiro was not a fledgling one like the rest of the team. And he could tell...

That this Shiro? This Shiro was _not his Sky_.

It was a secret the humans of the group had kept from Allura and Coran. Humans, for quite sometime, had come across a supernatural power, once exclusively held by the mafia, but was now publicly known and used by the humans on Earth. Dying Will Flames. Coloured flames that were based on their personality, each Flame having different properties by colour and purity.

Shiro was a Sky. The leader. The one who harmonises. The Sky that accepts all. Keith was a Stormy Cloud. The right hand. The raging tempest that rained destruction. The unchained and untethered cloud. And because he was these things, Keith knew that there was something horribly wrong soon after Shiro returned and took command once more. Keith, like the rest of the humans on the team, had been blinded with joy at their Sky's return, at least at first. While the others remained blinded, Keith soon noticed that Shiro wasn't acting like the Sky he was supposed to be. First, Shiro may have tried to act like a leader, but what it felt like was someone trying to usurp the line of command in the team. Sure, Keith would always defer to Shiro, but didn't Shiro trust him to lead, to act in the favor of the team? That trust wasn't there any more. Then there was the fact that Shiro was trying to tie him down to his duty to the team. It was as if he forgot that Keith was a Cloud!

Then there was the most jarring fact. Months ago, when they were still searching for Shiro, Keith tried to sense him through their bond as Sky and Element. He couldn't feel the bond. On the other end was an empty, gaping hole, ripped open when his Sky had vanished. When he found Shiro, he didn't think to check the bond at first, but the feeling of emptiness persisted, and what he found was an unfilled hole, as if the Shiro they had found was not there at all...

When the group found Matt, Keith couldn't help but pay them a visit, knowing that Matt had been one of Shiro's elements as well. The conversation that followed was telling.

"Okay, who the fuck was that, Keith?" the Sunny Lightning snarled when they were finally alone. "He looked like Shiro, acted like Shiro, but I felt our bond shatter, and it didn't repair when I saw him alive. _That is not my Sky Keith, so who is he_?"

"So you noticed it too?" Keith muttered.

"How blinded are my sister and her friends, Keith?" Matt asked.

Keith sighed, "Very. Their bond with Shiro was not as strong as mine and yours, and I think they didn't even notice the loss like we did."

Matt stared at him before questioning, "... Is this why you've been distancing yourself and staying with the Blade? Because he's not our Sky?"

"That and finding Lotor," Keith hummed. " But I'm also trying to figure out where this 'Shiro' originated from. I want to expose this Shiro, but with the others so blinded, I need proof..."

* * *

Proof that he had no time to get. Not with the operation to take back a third of the Empire's territory about to fall apart. Not with Naxzela about to explode thanks to that damn witch. Not when everything he cared for about to be destroyed in one fell swoop.

Shiro was _gonegonegone_ and no one but him and Matt could see. Keith had to keep his fellow elements, what was left of his small family, alive to find the truth, and if it took sacrificing himself to take down the barrier protecting the witch, so be it.

Opening the comm to Matt's ship, Keith took a deep breath and said, "Matt, I'm going in. Protect the others. _Find that proof_."

"Keith what are yo-" Keith turned off the comm and steeled himself, pushing the Galra fighter to its limit to attempt to break the barrier.

This Shiro was not his Sky, and like _hell was he letting the rest of his friends die because they were blind to the truth._

* * *

 **Hope I didn't confuse you all, but here's the deal with everyone's flames. Keith is a Stormy Cloud, Shiro is a Sky. Hunk, Pidge and Matt are Sunny Lightnings, and Lance is a Rain.**

 **Tell me what you think!**


End file.
